MetaFilter posts tagged with denial

I Deny That I Am In Denial

fourcheesemac — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:07:34 -0800

Questions for John Yoo. Q. Do you regret writing the so-called torture memos, which claimed that President Bush was legally entitled to ignore laws prohibiting torture? A. No, I had to write them. It was my job. As a lawyer, I had a client. The client needed a legal question answered. NY Times, via Andrew Sullivan Also: Q. Were you close to George Bush? A. No, I’ve never met him. I don’t know Cheney either. I have not gone hunting with him, which is probably a good thing for me. and Q. Are you saying the citizens of Berkeley are Communists, reminiscent of those on the dark side of the Iron Curtain? A. There are probably more Communists in Berkeley than any other town in America, but I think of them more as lovers of Birkenstocks than Marx.

Denial is an increasingly full river in Egypt

Pater Aletheias — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:58:16 -0800

Climate Denial Crock of the Week (YT). Especially good: I Love the 70's! and Mars Attacks!

Full Commanding Denial

Adamchik — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:25:38 -0800

There have been a lot of descriptions of our new president, but being in "full commanding denial" is a new and, sadly, insightful one. Clusterf*ck Nation's Jim Kunstler observes that the bailout "is predicated on the idea that the mechanisms of wealth production -- even of illusory wealth, such as the fortunes created by trading securitized unpayable debt -- can keep chugging along, spinning off limitless additional suburban villas, chain stores, car trips, and deep-fried snacks." For a different view, the folks over at the excellent Baseline Scenario have been doing some interesting thinking about The Cultural Costs of Bailout Nation. For an even bigger big picture view, Dmitry Orlov's original analysis of the USSR vs. USA collapse in Superpower Collapse Best Practices seems to be even more resonant in his recent appearances. Maybe it's time to give Full Commanding Denial another chance ....

Is Denial A Social Necessity?

amyms — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:53:00 -0800

Does Denial Make The World Go 'Round? "In the modern vernacular, to say someone is 'in denial' is to deliver a savage combination punch: one shot to the belly for the cheating or drinking or bad behavior, and another slap to the head for the cowardly self-deception of pretending it's not a problem. Yet recent studies from fields as diverse as psychology and anthropology suggest that the ability to look the other way, while potentially destructive, is also critically important to forming and nourishing close relationships. The psychological tricks that people use to ignore a festering problem in their own households are the same ones that they need to live with everyday human dishonesty and betrayal, their own and others'. And it is these highly evolved abilities, research suggests, that provide the foundation for that most disarming of all human invitations, forgiveness."

State of Denial

stbalbach — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:46:16 -0800

The Denial Machine. A 40-min Canadian (CBC) documentary about the "denial industry" - think tanks, scientists, PR firms, focus groups, lawyers, etc.. the issue? ~~Tobacco~~. ~~Global Warming~~. It doesn't matter - different issues but the same people. How to be a professional denier and profit.

Iraqi Death Rate May Top Our Civil War: Deaths in Iraq: How Many, and Why It Matters

y2karl — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:23:59 -0800

...Would it surprise you to learn that if the Johns Hopkins estimates of 400,000 to 800,000 deaths are correct -- and many experts in the survey field seem to suggest they probably are -- that the supposedly not-yet-civil-war in Iraq has already cost more lives, per capita, than our own Civil War (one in 40 of all Iraqis alive in 2003) ? And that these losses are comparable to what some European nations suffered in World War II ? You'd never know it from mainstream press coverage in the U.S. "Everybody knows the boat is leaking, everybody knows the captain lied," Leonard Cohen once sang. The question the new study raises: How many will go down with the ship, and will the press finally hold the captain fully accountable ?

Iraqi Death Rate May Top Our Civil War -- But Will the Press Confirm It ?
See also Debating the Body Count in Iraq
See also Deaths in Iraq: how many, and why it matters
See also The Science of Counting the Dead
See also How the Media Covered The Lancet’s Iraqi Casualty Study
See also More deadly than Saddam

Sic et non

jfuller — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 17:21:21 -0800

De Villepin: The French riots didn't happen. Riots? What riots? There were no riots. (Jean Baudrillard: "That's right, Dominique, you're getting the idea.)

mathowie — Sun, 16 Sep 2001 11:40:02 -0800

Bin Laden Denies attack was his. "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." Maybe it was the guy on the grassy knoll again?